Puay Hoe Chua

Puay Hoe's working title is "Examining the Perceptions of Political Communication Control and Its Impact on Political Legitimacy within a Changing Media Ecology: A Comparative Analysis of Greater China and Singapore." He holds an MSc in International Political Economy and a BA in Communication from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Puay Hoe is supervised by Professor Ben O'Loughlin.

Simon Collister

Simon's working title is "Who Governs and Who Ought to Govern?”: Framing, Democracy and the Networked Information Economy." He is supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick. Simon is now a Senior Lecturer in Communication at the University of the Arts, London. For more information about his research, see his website. Follow Simon on Twitter.

Adam Drew

Adam's working title is "Legislating Cyber Security." His research examines the definitional problems surrounding cyber security/war/conflict and the consequences for their governance and legislation. He is supervised by Professor Ben O'Loughlin. Follow Adam on Twitter.

Claudia Ferreira

Claudia is a PhD candidate in the Department of History and the Department of Politics and International Relations. She is supervised by Dr Akil Awan and Dr James Sloam. The topic of her research is "Magna Carta for the Digital Generation: the intersection of youth protest and technology." Her research is funded by the Leverhulme trust. In 2015, Royal Holloway was awarded over £1 million from the Trust to support a total of 15 PhD research projects on the theme of Freedom and the Rights of the Individual in the Digital Age. Follow Claudia on Twitter.

Domenico Galimi

Domenico is a PhD candidate in the School of Law and the Department of Politics and International Relations. His working PhD title is, "Evolving Terror: A Critical Analysis of the Evolutionary Nature of Modern Terrorism". He is co-supervised by Dr David La Rooy in the School of Law and Professor Ben O'Loughlin at NewPolCom. Follow Domenico on Twitter.

Gill Griffiths-Jones

Gill is conducting a comparative study of strategic narratives of drones and how those narratives shape public opinion in different countries. The working title of her PhD is, "The Proliferation of Armed Unmanned Vehicles: Policymaking, Public Opinion and the Media." She is co-supervised by Dr Kaat Smets and Professor Ben O'Loughlin.

Andrew Lo

Andrew began his studies in January 2018, with a thesis entitled, "The Changing Dynamics of Chinese Foreign Policy: Host Diplomacy and its Relations to Global Governance and World Power Structures". Andrew is co-supervised by Dr. Jinghan Zeng and Professor Ben O'Loughlin. Follow Andrew on Twitter.

Amber Macintyre

Amber joined us in September 2015. Her research is funded by the Leverhulme Trust. In 2015, Royal Holloway was awarded over £1 million from the Trust to support a total of 15 PhD research projects on the theme of Freedom and the Rights of the Individual in the Digital Age. Amber is working on the theme "Surveilling the Surveillants: Organizational Practices, Democratic Debate, and the Ethical Challenges of the Political Monitoring of Citizens." Follow Amber on Twitter.

Declan McDowell-Naylor

Declan joined us in September 2014. His project examines how we can advance towards an ‘ethics of technologies’ in the context of innovation and politics in the UK, and the implications of this for social and political power. The project covers many emergent topics such as driverless cars, digital media and the internet of things. Declan is co-supervised by Professor Ben O'Loughlin and Professor Andrew Chadwick. For more information about his research, see his website. Follow Declan on Twitter.

Rahel Podobsky-Stucki

Rahel’s project examines the range of online reactions to terrorism with a focus on collective trauma, distant witnessing, affective responses, and interpassivity. The working title of her PhD is “Negotiating Emotions on Social Media in the Wake of Terrorist Attacks: Testing for Interpassive Behaviour”. She is co-supervised by Professor Ben O'Loughlin and Dr Akil Awan. Follow Rahel on Twitter.

Amy P. Smith

Amy is examining news media agenda-setting during the 2015 UK general election, with a particular focus on the impact of new and social media. The working title of her thesis is “Communication, Commodification & Control: Political Communication during the 2015 General Election in the United Kingdom." Amy is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council South East Doctoral Training Consortium and is co-supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick and Professor Ben O’Loughlin. Follow Amy on Twitter.

Ellen Watts

Ellen's project explores the interventions of celebrities in the political field, and the extent to which these are perceived as authentic. Case studies include the role of Russell Brand in a London housing campaign, and celebrity endorsers in the 2015 Labour election campaign. Ellen is funded by the Economic and Social Research Council South East Doctoral Training Consortium, and is co-supervised by Professor Andrew Chadwick and Professor Ben O'Loughlin. For more information about her research, see her website. Follow Ellen on Twitter.

New Political Communication Unit, Royal Holloway, University of London.